1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to producing a three dimensional section of a polymerized liquid. The liquid may contain cells and the polymerization is reversible so that the cells may be re-isolated from the three dimensional section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previously liquid monomers have been polymerized into three dimensional slabs by casting agarose between slab gel electrophoresis plates separated by 1-mm thick Teflon spacers. After the gelling of the slab was complete, disks were cored from the slab. Cells such as chondrocytes could be added, for example, in DMEM (Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium) mixed with PBS (Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline) containing low melting temperature agarose. This method is useful for testing the mechanical and electromechanical properties of the disks of chondrocyte/agarose disks and control disks with no cells. However, with the use of this method the polymerization of the slab is not reversible. Thus, the cells can not be re-isolated from the slab after the polymerization to conduct further research and testing on the individual cells, such as mRNA testing, etc.
Alginate, a seaweed derived polymer, allows cells to be maintained in a site that resembles native tissue, thus, it is a preferred media for growing and testing cells. Monomers such as alginate, which are viscous liquids polymerized by ion diffusion. Previously the only known method for polymerizing the alginate was to drop small drops of the alginate from the tip of a syringe into a polymerizing bath containing a polymerizing agent. The cell morphology may remain intact, however, the alginate beads are not suitable for mechanical compression studies.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a reversible diffusion controlled method of polymerizing liquid into solids of various shapes, sizes and thicknesses.
Another objective of the present invention is to maintain cells in culture for tissue engineering purposes.